Epilogue Revisited
by LetheSara
Summary: Nineteen Years Later if Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin had survived the Battle of Hogwarts.


_A.N: Seeing as I'm in a state of denial over the fate of Tonks and Lupin, combined with the fact that I kept whinging about it, my best friend suggested that I rewrite the Epilogue._

_So I did.  
__Tonks and Lupin Style._

_This is what I like to think would of happened if they had lived. What I think they deserved. Sections are borrowed straight from the book, while others are my own creation. _

_Enjoy._

_No Copyright Infringement Intended._

_Dedicated to Jez._

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**Epilogue Revisited**

Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first of September was crisp and golden as an apple, and as the little family bobbed across the rumbling road towards the great, sooty station, the fumes of car exhausts and the breath of pedestrians sparkled like cobwebs in the cold air. Two large cages rattled on top of the laden trolley's two teenagers were pushing; the owls inside them hooted indignantly, and a brown haired boy trailed carefully alongside the rest of his family, clutching his father's arm.

The commuters stared curiously at the owls as the family wove its way towards the barrier between platforms nine and ten. They were all but silent as they made their way to Platform Nine and Three Quarters, the only noise issuing from the matriarch of the group with her soft, gentle humming.

'"The Weird Sisters" Nymphadora?' her husband asked, his eyebrows raised questioningly. She sighed playfully.

'Remus, just because we've been married for nineteen years does not, in any way, mean that you're allowed to use _that_ name.' Even though she did her best to look serious, she couldn't stop the smile forming at the corners of her mouth. After all, she quite liked her name when it rolled off his tongue. Remus just smiled, leant down, and kissed his wife on the cheek. She laughed softly and took hold of his other arm, looked over her husband's shoulder to their youngest son and winked slyly.

'So I don't trip over either.' She confided in him quietly and they both laughed.

As the five Lupins approached the barrier, Teddy relinquished control over the trolley he was pushing to his little brother, and together they disappeared through the solid brick wall, their sister following close behind with her own trolley, soon it was just Remus and Nymphadora left standing before the platform.

'They grow up so fast.' She smiled sadly.

'That they do Dora. That they do.' He agreed tenderly as he noticed the tears beginning to form in her eyes.

'And to think…' She had to take a breath. 'To think we almost didn't make it. We almost missed out on seeing our children grow up. We almost missed out on everything.' She closed her eyes for a moment and Remus squeezed her hand in reassurance.

'I know Dora.' He whispered to her as they strolled through the barrier and emerged onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters, which was obscured by the thick, white steam that was pouring from the scarlet Hogwarts Express.

Indistinct figures were swarming through the mist into which their three children had already disappeared. Peering at the hazy forms through the dense vapour as they made their way down the platform, it was difficult to make out anybody's faces. Detached from their owners, voices sounded unnaturally loud.

'There they are Remus.' His wife announced as she pointed to the turquoise haired head, barely visible in the fog, she had spotted. As they moved towards their eldest son, a large group of people emerged from the mist, standing alongside the very last carriage. Their face only came into view when Remus and Nymphadora had drawn right up to them.

'Hello Remus, Tonks.' Harry Potter greeted them warmly, surrounded by his own family.

'Wotcher.' She returned as she distributed hugs, while Remus smiled and shook hands with each of his old students and good friends. Amongst the greetings, Remus had noticed that Teddy had disappeared once more into the crowds, but his youngest son, now fully dressed in his brand new Hogwarts robes, had joined them. As the boy started to talk to Harry's children, Dora was locked in conversation with Ginny and Hermione, and Remus had bent down to lift the two heavy trunks onto the train.

'Careful old man.' Harry joked as he reached down to help his old teacher. Remus raised an eyebrow, but accepted the help nonetheless.

'So then,' Harry continued. 'I take it the pack's well then?'

'I'm not even going to answer that.' Remus chuckled. 'You're not getting sick of the werewolf jokes then I take it?

'Never.' Harry grinned as they bent down for the second trunk, but then the tone of the conversation changed.  
'I just can't get over how much he looks like you Remus.' He said, glancing over to the youngest Lupin.

'Just like you and Albus.' He returned with a nod, but Harry shook his head.

'No more. Tonks was just an incubator with him. He's…He's a Mini-Moony!' Remus couldn't help himself. He burst out laughing.

'He is isn't he?' He agreed. 'Just don't let Dora hear you say that. She won't too be happy. She seems to be in state of denial about that fact.'  
Now it was Harry's turn to laugh, even though he knew Remus wasn't joking.

Back on the platform, they found their children, along with Ron and Hermione's as well, having an animated discussion about which house they would be sorted in when they finally went to Hogwarts.

'If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you,' said Ron, 'but no pressure.'

'RON!'

Lily Potter and Hugo Weasley, the two youngest both laughed, but Albus Potter, Rose Weasley and Mini-Moony all looked solemn.

'He doesn't mean it.' Said Hermione and Ginny, trying to console their children.

'Hufflepuff's not a bad place to be either.' A voice spoke up and everyone turned to listen. 'I know that everyone makes fun of them and all, but they're actually really nice people to be around.' Tonks finished on a nostalgic note.

'Hufflepuff? Please.' Ron laughed. 'Bunch of idiots they are.'

Tonks' hair, which had until just recently had been her signature shade of pink, now burnt red.

'Watch it Weasley.' She growled. 'In case you hadn't noticed, _I_ was a Hufflepuff.' Ron blushed and tried to quickly change the topic, moving over to beside Harry to avoid the glares he was getting. As he did so however, he caught both Remus and Harry's eyes in quick succession. Some fifty yards away the steam had thinned for a moment and three people stood in sharp relief against the mist.

'Look who it is.' Ron muttered under his breath.

Draco Malfoy was standing there with his wife and son, the new boy resembling Draco as much as Albus resembled Harry, as much as Remus' own son resembled him.

'My dear, old cousin.' Tonks muttered quietly to herself, narrowing her eyes somewhat in disgust.

'So that's little Scorpius,' said Ron under his breath. 'Make sure you beat him in every test Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains.' He told his only daughter.

'Ron! For heaven's sake,' said Hermione, half stern, half amused. 'Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!'

'You're right, sorry,' said Ron, but unable to help himself, he added, 'don't get _too_ friendly with him though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood.'

Rose blinked in mild confusion, and Tonks turned to her and winked.

'Don't worry Rose,' she told the eleven year old slyly. 'Just do what I did and marry a werewolf.' Amidst the laughter of the rest of the group, Ron paled visibly at the comment, but Tonks carried on.

Not only do you get a husband, but you get a dog too! AND he's house trained!' she grinned, reaching up to kiss her husband.

Remus rolled his eyes and frowned, if only to hide the flush of embarrassment that was slowly, but surely, creeping onto his cheeks. Though this didn't stop him from kissing his wife back, and as he did so, she whispered in his ear, loud enough for only him to hear,

'And don't even get me started on the sex…'

Remus couldn't help it. He grinned at the thought.

'Hey!'

James had reappeared; he had divested himself of his trunk, owl, trolley and was evidently bursting with news. Though when he saw the Lupin's, he became somewhat sidetracked.

'So,' he said, sliding closer to Mini-Moony. 'Is your sister around?' he tried his best to look nonchalant, but his mother could see right through him.

'Give it up James.' Ginny sighed amusedly. 'She's too old for you.'

Both Remus and Tonks raised an eyebrow at the mention of 'too old'.

'She's only a fifth year.' James argued defensively. 'And besides, she's beautiful.' His eyes stared off into the distance and a lovesick smile crept onto his face. The youngest Lupin didn't quite understand James' behaviour, so he did the only thing he could.

'She's around here somewhere.' He answered.

James looked up.

'Really?' His eyes widened as he snapped his head back and forth over his shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of her. 'Where?'

Mini-Moony just shrugged.

All of a sudden, James shook his head and remembered what he been meaning to tell them all.

'Guess who I've just seen?' he asked, pointed to somewhere within the billowing clouds of steam.

'Teddy!' he exclaimed, answering his own question.

'And guess what he's doing?' The faces of his audience were unreadable, and James gave up on trying to get a response from any of them.

'He was snogging Victoire!' he gazed up at the adults, evidently disappointed by the lack of reaction.

'Teddy! Teddy Lupin! Snogging our Victoire! Victoire Weasley! Our cousin!' He took a deep breath before continuing. 'So I stopped to ask Teddy what he was doing,'

Tonks raised an eyebrow swiftly once more.

'And he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. _He was snogging her!'_ James added, as though worried he had not made himself clear. But despite all his efforts,

There was silence.

You could almost hear the sound of joints twisting and bones creaking as all heads turned to face Remus and Tonks.

They looked at each other.

Still silence.

Then Tonks smiled slyly, the corners of her mouth creeping into a faint smirk.

'Looks like someone needs to sit down and have a little talk with their son, Remus.' She told him sweetly.

His face, in return, was somewhere between amused and horrified, though he was trying his best to make it unreadable.

'Nymphadora, I did that years ago remember? He wouldn't come out of his room for days afterwards it was that awful.' He shuddered at the thought.

'Well, maybe you should refresh his memory.' She suggested. 'After all, I know better than anyone just how enticing and irresistible he hands, and for that matter, mouth, of a Lupin can be. No to mention the fact that I've got three especially strong pieces of evidence to support my case.'

'You're a Lupin too.' He had to remind her.

'By marriage. The hands are inherited.'

'I beg to differ.' He muttered to himself. She looked at him.

'I can't argue with that logic can I?' he sighed.

'Nope.' She replied with a grin as she entwined her hand with his.

From somewhere within the group, Tonks heard hushed voices whispering about marriage.

She froze.

This couldn't be.

He was still just her blue-haired baby boy. Has that much time really passed since the Battle of Hogwarts? Part of her couldn't believe it, and part of her didn't want to.

'Still just a baby.' She frowned to herself. 'Still just _my _baby.'

He was too young to be thinking about such things as marriage; and was any girl ever going to be good enough for her son? She didn't think so.

She could've sat there wallowing silently in her memories for an eternity, but an authoritative voice pierced her thoughts.

'It's nearly eleven, you'd better get on board.'

Almost subconsciously, the group divided itself by three. The Potter's and the Weasley's stood apart from each other, addressing their own families, saying their heartfelt goodbyes, sharing pieces of both helpful and not so helpful advice and offering hushed reassurances. But not a single one of the Lupin's noticed any of this, for they too were caught up with the happenings of their group.

The family of five had gathered once more. Teddy was looking somewhat flushed and out of breath, his sister was looking uninterested, as only a fifteen year old can, but at the same time both sad and excited, and Mini-Moony was clutching his father's hand as if his life depended on it, apprehension etched on his face.

'James was looking for you earlier.' Tonks told her only daughter loudly, making Teddy snigger. The girl looked towards the Potter's briefly, and then turned to face her mother.

'He keeps looking at me.' she admitted quietly, blushing slightly.

'Someone's got a boyfriend!' Teddy laughed, dancing around his sister. She shot him an evil glare which only made him laugh harder, before he was silenced with the exact same look, this time from his mother.

'I wouldn't say too much Ted Remus Lupin. When we get home, you and your father are going to sit down and have a little discussion about what you were doing before…with Victoire Weasley.'

Teddy Paled.

So did Remus.

The whistle sounded once more and the family snapped into action.

'Don't forget to write. Try not to annoy the teachers. Leave the Slytherins alone. Don't mess with Peeves. And don't do anything I wouldn't do.' Remus told his children.

'Which doesn't leave all that much…' his wife reminded him quietly.

His daughter rolled her eyes, hugged both of her brothers and her parents tightly before saying goodbye one last time and running on to the train, waving over her shoulder as she did so.

Mini-Moony hadn't moved.

'What if…What if they find out?'

The whisper was for his father alone, and Remus knew that only the moment of departure could've forced his son to reveal how great and sincere that fear was.

He crouched down and looked into his son's familiar eyes.

While Teddy had been the only one to inherit his mother's metamorphic abilities, likewise, his youngest son had been the only one to inherit any trace of his Lycanthropy.

Although he had been told time and time again that it was impossible for any of his children to inherit his curse, after all Remus hadn't been born with it so it wasn't exactly genetic, but when his son was born eleven years ago, he couldn't ignore the signs.

It was then that he'd realised that it was, in fact, a disease, a virus that infected his own blood, and in turn, the blood that ran through their veins…

At first, the guilt of what he was, what he'd caused his son to be was unbearable.

But in time, the love he had for his family had won over his fear. He couldn't leave them, not again. He'd learnt that lesson.

Though that didn't mean he wasn't still plagued with guilt. It was unavoidable.

While he had never transformed per se, the youngest Lupin was always moody and unapproachable in the days leading up to the full moon, preferred his meat half-raw and, especially when he was younger, tended to bite.

One the night of the full moon however, according to Dora, growls would issue from his room all night, his senses seemed more pronounced as well as his inborn animalistic traits. She had also mentioned that, once or twice, she could've sworn she'd heard him howling at the moon.  
These attributes were worsening over time.

There was no doubt in his mind that one day, one night, his son would transform into a fully fledged werewolf, just like him.

The thought broke his heart. He wouldn't have wished his fate on anyone, let alone his own flesh and blood, but he loved his son and that was all that mattered.

'People shouldn't care who or what you are. What matters is what's in here.' He put a hand over his son's heart.

'But just say…'

'Then they aren't your real friends. Are they? When I was your age, I had three best friends and you what? They accepted and loved me, even with my "furry little problem". The same will happen for you. And if it doesn't, then you have my permission to bite a few heads off.' Remus winked and his son giggled before throwing his arms around his father one last time and whispered goodbye.

Remus had never needed to tell any of his children that before, but the way his son's face lit up and the wonder in his eyes made it all worth it.

By now the doors were slamming all along the scarlet train, and the blurred outlines of parents were swarming forwards for final kisses and last minute reminders.

Mini-Moony jumped into the carriage and Remus closed the door behind him.

Like always, a great number of faces, both on the train and off, were turned towards Harry, his children demanding an explanation, and Ron providing an amusing yet somewhat misleading answer.

Remus didn't notice.

He just stood waving goodbye to his youngest son, his little man.

There had been a time, so long ago, when every moment he got to spend with the people he loved needed to be treasured. Now it was like it had just disappeared from out of under him.

It didn't seem fair.

They grow up _too_ fast.

'Don't worry Dad.' Teddy clapped him on the shoulder sympathetically. 'They'll be home for Christmas, and besides,' he smiled. 'You and I still have that talk to look forward to, remember.'

Remus mentally cringed.

'Your mother's idea. Not mine.'

'I got that feeling.'

'Speaking of your mother…'

Remus had been so caught up in watching his son's thin face, already ablaze with excitement, slowly begin to glide away, smiling and waving encouragingly, that he hadn't noticed what his wife had gotten up to.

Despite the fact that she was considerably older than when he had first met her, Nymphadora Lupin, it seemed, had forgotten that little fact.

With the enthusiasm and athleticism of a much younger woman, she had begun to chase after the train, waving goodbye to her son and daughter, first at a brisk walk, then faster and faster until she was jogging to keep up with it.

As the train rounded the corner and the last trace of steam evaporated from the autumn air, she stopped at the end of the platform and waved goodbye one last time, before smiling sadly, turning around and walking back towards her husband and eldest son once more.

With no-one to say farewell to anymore, Remus reluctantly lowered his hand.

'He'll be alright.' He muttered reassuringly to himself under his breath, glancing up at his wife while he did so. He saw her catch her foot on a piece of the exposed platform and come crashing down to earth.

Quickly, and almost instinctively, he closed the few steps between them and gently caught the pink haired witch in his arms.

She smiled up at him gratefully before entwining her hand in his hair and pulling his lips onto hers, making Teddy look away in disgust.

'Hypocrite.' She smiled, kissing her husband once more.

Nineteen years and he still caught her every time. All was well.


End file.
